Souderton boys, Upper Dublin girls earn victories in the pool
FRANCONIA >> Souderton and Upper Dublin seem to bring out the best in each other, and on Thursday afternoon, Will Stanczewski’s fastest ever swim in the 100-yard breaststroke helped power the Big Red boys to victory.
“I felt pretty good. My legs felt dead towards the end but I had to finish through,” Stanczewski said of his four-event day. “Just coming off of Tuesday (against Pennsbury), I felt really good in the pool. I just felt really smooth.”
The junior was a big part of Souderton’s 100-80 victory over the Cardinals in a Suburban One League non-division meet. The Upper Dublin girls, meanwhile, surged to a 107-79 win over Big Red.
Stanczewski won the 100 breast in 1 minute, 1.25 seconds and also notched second in the 200 free. He swam a strong 50 breast leg on the 200 medley relay and also anchored the 400 free relay.
“You have to do what you have to do,” he said with a grin. “It’s just a great feeling, especially against great competition in Upper Dublin. It’s just a great win overall.”
Souderton packed plenty of good swims into what has become an annual rivalry. The two District 1-3A powers matched each other swim for swim, stroke for stroke.
“This is a real competitive meet for us and it’s one on the schedule we really look forward to,” said Big Red coach Lou Williams. “This week, before Christmas break when both teams really start hammering the kids (with winter training), we usually get good times and our kids were excited to swim against Upper Dublin.”
Robbie Ferlick won the 50 free and 100 fly for Big Red and Stanczewski pushed to an impressive mark in the 100 breast.
“It’s a lot of fun with all my friends, just coming out and swimming,” Stanczewski said. “We’re doing pretty well and we’re gonna build from here.”
Alicia Taylor anchored the Upper Dublin girls 200 medley relay to a win and later touched first in the 100 free. Also for the Cards, Maya Gondek was fastest in the 50 free and served as the anchor leg on the first-place 400 free relay.
The two squads will see each other again Saturday at the Cardinal Invite.
The Souderton boys are thriving on balance.
“We are lucky to have excellent depth on the boys side this year. We have a couple of freshmen, sophomores and juniors who allow us to be creative with the lineup and move people around a little bit,” said Williams. “So we’re thankful. We have a big boys team and a lot of guys who have experience racing.
“(The girls) had some excellent times, great splits in the relays. Things are moving in the right direction and I’m feeling good about where we’re at.”
Boys Swimming
Souderton 100, Upper Dublin 80
200 medley relay: Upper Dublin (Franco Ciccarone, Nicolas Medvedev, Spencer Motelson, Michael Gewartowski), 1:40.90; 200 free: Jack Vitella (UD) 1:47.60; 200 IM: Elijah Gehman (S) 2:08.07; 50 free: Robbie Ferlick (S) 22.10; Diving: Matthew Meehan (S) 178.40; 100 fly: Robbie Ferlick (S) 52.90; 100 free: Logan Freed (S) 51.37; 500 free: Vitella (UD) 4:56.73; 200 free relay: Souderton Area (Gian Carlo Bocchino, Matvey Andryushin, Lincoln Annise, Robbie Ferlick), 1:31.27; 100 back: Franco Ciccarone (UD) 58.03; 100 breast: William Stanczewski (S) 1:01.25; 400 free relay: Upper Dublin (Vitella, Motelson, Jonathan In, Michael Gewartowski), 3:20.20.
Girls Swimming
Upper Dublin 107, Souderton 79
200 medley relay: Upper Dublin (Vikki Williams, Sophia Sileo-Magliari, Jessie Motelson, Alicia Taylor), 1:52.12; 200 free: Pippin Lochstet (UD) 2:03.56; 200 IM: Jess Burns (S) 2:12.13; 50 free: Maya Gondek (UD) 26.05; Diving: Avery Taylor (S) 223.95; 100 fly: Amy Masciulli (S) 1:00.35; 100 free: Alicia Taylor (UD) 56.35; 500 free: Jessie Motelson (UD) 5:32.17; 200 free relay: Souderton (Burns, Carol Ann Descher, Amy Masciulli, Anna Stauffer), 1:42.89; 100 back: Arina Vorobyeva (UD) 59.16; 100 breast: Burns (S) 1:06.73; 400 free relay: Upper Dublin (Arina Vorobyeva, Maddie Shapiro, Olivia Auwarter, Maya Gondek), 3:45.85.
